The Intern
by yamishun
Summary: This is a story where Alfred is an intern at a media-buying company and his immediate supervisor is Arthur. He's attracted to his boss despite his resolve not to fall in love with a co-worker. Will he act on it or will it be just an unfulfilled romance?
1. Chapter 1

I've come bearing new fanfiction material! I figured that it's time to explore a verse that I haven't seen being used by fellow fanfic authors. I hope you guys will like it (even if this is somewhat pointless haha).

Standard disclaimers apply here. I do not own the characters, just the (somewhat non-existent) plot.

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><p>Alfred arrived entered the suite of Carat Atlanta at nine in the morning only to find his seat had been taken by someone who arrived earlier. He frowned a little but shrugged as he put his bag under his desk. He's been working as an intern of the company for about 3 weeks and from his experience, it wasn't an unusual occurrence. Especially when a fellow intern who was of Japanese descent was hired and added to their team. Nonetheless, he decided to search for it. He'd feel better if he knew where it was so when whoever took it was finished with it, he can take it back to its rightful place. He eventually found it being used by his co-intern, Kiku, who was busy checking prices while negotiating with a someone on the phone. The Japanese boy saw him and bowed in silent apology for taking his seat. Alfred mouthed "it's okay" to appease the look of distress that was showing on his friend's face. Kiku bowed again and focused his attention on the phone conversation.<p>

Alfred scratched the back of his head, messing the blond locks that the pads of fingers happen to rake on, and walked back to his cubicle. He stood awkwardly in front of his desk, unsure of what to do. He looked around and his eyes landed on his boss's chair-his boss's _unused _chair. He thought about borrowing it while his boss was away. Arthur left for a business trip a week ago, leaving Alfred to fend off for himself even if he started doing his job for only two weeks. After a lengthy debate with himself, he pulled Arthur's chair to his table and started working, waiting for his laptop-which he named Tony (it's normal to name your trusty gadgets dammit!)- to boot first. He decided to blame Arthur for this mess with the cost estimates even if it wasn't really his fault.

For some reason they always get on each other's necks. It wasn't particularly hard to get on Arthur's bad side but Alfred could usually get along with people from both ends of the spectrum. It was rare for someone to get on his nerves as much as his boss, and it definitely was _not_ because he was remotely attracted to Arthur. When he first met the man, the first thing Alfred noticed was his eyes. He had a weakness against interesting eyes, and the color of Arthur's was a rare green. His heart wildly thumped against his ribcage at that time.

Alfred snorted at himself for purposely thinking about his British boss. He should be thrilled that the office had one less asshole present. Arthur was only four years older than him, yet he acted as if it was more than ten, hence, the running gag of Arthur the old man. He was overly prissy, usually grumpy, and his temper was the worst Alfred has seen in his nineteen years of life. Oftentimes Alfred wanted to kick him in the shin for being such an ass, but it was against his hero instincts to physically harm an innocent man. Even if said innocent man tended to become a pain in the neck more often than not.

He was cut off his reverie when he noticed Tony was already fully functioning. He stretched his arms forward and grunted appreciatively before starting his first task for the day.

Working with the media was hectic, and everything needed to be timely. Alfred normally didn't mind the quick paced lifestyle, but media people were bitches when problems arise. Which brought him to his current task, typing an incident report for an apparent mix up with the dates. Nokia ads were supposed to appear on the newspaper on Tuesdays not Mondays. How someone could mix that up was beyond him. Naturally, Nokia refused to pay for the extra advertisement. He understood the sentiment of the client. He would do the same if he were in their place. His fingers hovered above the keyboard as he stared at the blank page on MS Word, the typing cursor seemingly mocking him as it blinked away without any forward motion. He groaned. "How the fuck do I write it?"

"A problem, Jones?" Alfred jolted, inadvertently hitting the speaker's chin with his shoulder.

"What the bloody hell was that for, you div[1]?" Arthur rubbed his chin as he shot glares towards the source of his pain. Alfred didn't move as he openly stared and gaped at his immediate supervisor. Arthur still rubbed his chin while they stare at each other, his glare mellowing down to a curious stare.

"Weren't you supposed to be somewhere else? Like you know, the UK?" Alfred questioned the British man, and belatedly added, "And it's not my fault your chin got hit! You scared me! Normal people don't go whispering onto other people's ears while they're busy concentrating on something else!" Alfred put a hand on his ear protectively, face flushed from part embarrassment and part surprise. Arthur was good at making Alfred momentarily lose his hero bravado and normally good-mannered disposition.

Color seeped onto Athur's face. He sputtered a little before he denied the accusation that he whispered on Alfred's ear. "Of course I'm here! It was a business trip not a reassignment, you complete prat! Although I would greatly appreciate it if I was transferred to the UK office since it would distance me from _muppets _[2], _dickends_[3], that bloody _frog_-"

"Arthur! Speak English! American! You don't play fair! I can't understand you when you go all British on me!" Alfred cut in when Arthur's accent thickened considerably. It wasn't fair that Arthur had such a sexy accent! It made Alfred feel weird, his stomach figuratively flipping (from jealousy, not because Arthur can be really attractive) every time. He had vehemently denied, even to himself, the notion that has the hots for his boss.

"When you two are done releasing sexual tension[4], Arthur, we have a meeting that will start in a few minutes." Francis chided the two blondes as he exited Ms. Herdevary's office, effectively postponing their squabble for another time. There were hints of a smile on his face, borderline smirk that indicated nothing decent was running through the Frenchman's head. Arthur huffed irritably and stalked off the room to get a calming cup of tea.

Alfred didn't see Arthur for the rest of the morning. He had postponed writing the incident report until he and Kiku could work on it together. It was after lunch, when the two interns were huddled together at Kiku's desk, when the all too familiar blonde head walked in their office space. He looked chipper, borderline smug at the stress written all over Francis's face. Alfred already knew that the Briton probably whipped Francis's sorry ass during the meeting for his smart-ass comment when he stepped in during their earlier squabble. He feigned disinterest in the newcomers and pulled at the seat in front of his desk towards Kiku's. He didn't bother to turn the seat as he sat down, preferring to rest his chin on the chair's backrest. He watched as his friend composed the report. Kiku was the more formal one between the two of them so Alfred figured the Japanese boy could write a business letters with relative ease. He sighed and burrowed his face onto the seat, inhaling the scent that came from a coat he hadn't noticed hanging from the backrest. He pulled back a bit to stare at the coat before he unconsciously nuzzled it to get more of the fragrance that captured his attention.

"Alfred?"

"This smells really nice." he said absently, unaware that he voiced his thoughts loud enough for his friend to hear.

Kiku nodded at him, "Yes, Kirkland-san's cologne has a nice fragrance. It's like a breath of fresh air from the woods."

Alfred hummed, still inhaling the scent, and did a double-take when the words finally sunk in. "A-Arthur's, you say?"

"Yes. He is good at taking care of his appearance and making good first impressions. It must be because he faces many clients."

"It would be better if he would trim those caterpillars... I mean, eyebrows." Alfred snickered.

"I heard that, Jones." Alfred froze at the accented voice that chimed in their conversation. He looked behind him to confirm that Arthur was standing behind him. He didn't expect that the proper Englishman would lean towards him as he read what Kiku had typed. Alfred inhaled sharply and promptly held his breath as the familiarly pleasant scent filled his nose. Arthur made a few comments and suggestions to Kiku while maintaining his position. Alfred inwardly groaned. The more he smelled the man, the more he knew he liked it. He was sure it was made to attract women rather than men but he couldn't help but lean a little to get another whiff of Arthur. It was tantalizing but his attraction made everything awkward and embarrassing. Arthur was anything but someone to get attracted to. On top of being Alfred's boss, Arthur was possibly the only human in the world that could push Alfred's buttons the wrong way, they were both male, and Alfred could probably think of a thousand reasons why he shouldn't like that top-grade prick of a boss.

He had been too preoccupied with rationalizing why he shouldn't have any feelings that were romantic by nature towards Arthur that he wasn't able to hear when the said man called his name the first time. "Bloody hell, Alfred! What are _you_ doing?"

Alfred realized, much to his chagrin, that he had been leaning far too close for comfort. He raised both his hands and forced what he thought would look like his usual grin. It felt awkward and he figured it looked as awkward as it felt. But he tried to smooth his way out of the predicament he landed himself into with practiced feigned obliviousness.

Arthur had let him off without further prodding, still looking unconvinced but lacking the level of curiosity that would make the Englishman demand for a better explanation. Alfred sighed in relief. That is, until Arthur smirked and told him the words he didn't want to hear before promptly leaving the room with a smug smile on his face.

"If you liked how I smell that badly you should have just said so."

Alfred blushed in embarrassment. "Stupid Arthur. I didn't like it _that_ much."

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><p>I'm sorry if Alfred's demeanor towards Arthur tended to lean on the antagonistic side. They were supposed to playfully banter but it just morphed into what you've just read while I was writing. This scenario was actually <em>based<em> on my friend's internship experience. It's actually why Alfred can talk to his boss like that. My friend and her boss would, at times, shout at each other in the presence of their workmates.

I plan to write more on this verse but only if readers actually want to read it. Please let me know if you guys want me to continue.

Also, Carat is a real media-buying company.

(Edit: Thank you PolystyreneTears for the correction!)

**Possible unknown words explanation:**

[1] div (originally divvy), according to septicscompanion (with the correction of PolystyreneTears), means idiot. Likely derived from "divot," meaning "clod." Calling someone a divvy is pretty tame, much on a par with telling them they are a "dimwit."

[2] septicscompanion defines muppet as one of the many British slang words for "dimwit"

[3] British slang has so many variants for the word "idiot." Dickend is one of those words according to peevish UK.

[4] Yes, I shamelessly used and reworded dub!France's line.


	2. Chapter 2

First of all, I'm so sorry for the delay! My laptop's hard disk gave up on me so I lost everything! It was a devastating time for me so writing the latter parts was delayed for a week or two.**  
><strong>

**standard disclaimer:** The series, Axis Powers Hetalia and World Series Hetalia are not mine.

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><p>Alfred often wondered how he got into these situations. He knew he should have stopped asking the how's and start with the why's. Like why didn't he see this coming when it had been quite obvious with the fact that he was talking to Francis of all people; or why hasn't he gotten used to these conversations of questionable content when Francis was an active participant; or most importantly, why hasn't he learned his lesson and still spoke to Francis?<p>

All things considered, it was too late to regret or berate himself for his lack of foresight. He was already cornered into his current sticky situation.

_xxx_

The day had started normally, or at least as normal as it could get in an office where traditional French and English relationships (read: rivalries) still prevailed. He arrived a quarter before nine. Arthur's coat already hung on the backrest of his seat and Alfred resisted that infinitesimal urge to steal a whiff, because Arthur would know (he always knows) and gloat about it at Alfred's expense. Everyone else arrived a few minutes after him. Not even a minute after Francis had set foot in the office, half of the staff who were already there could hear their banter from the pantry. Kiku barely made it on time because there was a minor road accident on the route he took to work. Arthur reentered their team's workspace when the clock struck nine, business mobile phone in hand, looking rather miffed. He pocketed it but picked up his work phone that was neatly placed on his desk, right beside his personal mobile phone.

"Alfred, how are the collats[1]?" He asked distractedly as he typed away on his work phone. Alfred said nothing as he opened his e-mail to check if the advertising agency Nokia hired had finally sent it. He grimaced while scanning the downloaded attachments.

"Should I be honest?"

Arthur hummed in approval. His phone was already on his ear, waiting for the other end to pick up.

"Bad, really bad," Alfred enlarged one image and regretted it. "Cringe-worthy."

"Expound on that please."

"I expect you to start cursing in British, lash out on people in Welsh, and then get violent like a Glaswegian."

Arthur rolled his eyes at the assessment, sauntering to where Alfred sat. "Lovely. That's just what I needed today." His fingers lightly tapped on Alfred's desk, still waiting for the other person to pick up. His movements stalled when the ringing stopped and he greeted in his pleasant voice, "Good morning, Feliciano. I trust you recall that we have a meeting at ten _sharp_, today." he paused and Feliciano's muffled voice sounded through the speaker. "Yes, yes. There is no need for you to worry about that. It's all in the past- oh for god's sake, please do not cry." Arthur paused again, opening and closing his mouth, trying to get a word in but failing. Massive eyebrows scrunched up in frustration. The scene amused Alfred more than it should. He was already leaning back on the chair, watching the shifts in Arthur's facial expression when the Briton noticed the eyes on him. "Feliciano, please wait a tic." He covered the microphone with his hand and motioned for Alfred to move closer. Although slightly reluctant, Alfred leaned towards his boss, making sure he held his breath to avoid another possibly embarrassing incident. Arthur appeared to not have noticed and merely gave him a task that would have him frantic for at least thirty minutes.

"Alfred, please fix those naff[2] collats. I trust that your artistic sense is better than those gormless[3] advertising employees. Be a luv and do hurry! We only have less than an hour before doomsday."

Alfred couldn't decide whether he would feel flattered for the semi-compliment or kick Arthur for giving him a job that needed to be done in half an hour.

At 10 AM Arthur and Kiku had a meeting with Feliciano Vargas, Atlanta Journal-Constitution's account executive. Alfred managed to create semi-decent collaterals for the presentation that would be used for the meeting. Arthur thanked him with a rare grateful smile before he walked in the meeting room with Kiku trailing him closely. It had taken a full minute for Alfred to realize he had been staring at the same spot with his mouth hanging open like a fish out of the water. He promptly closed it and started working on the TV commercial placements, fully determined not to think about how nice Arthur looked when he smiled or how those green eyes lit up and sent his heart to a marathon.

The rest of the morning dragged on as Alfred was left to his own devices. After an hour of checking and double checking the available time slots and their prices, he was positively bored and desperate to have someone to talk to. He minimized the Excel file and stretched his limbs. He wasn't usually left alone since Kiku was with him. Arthur and Francis were usually out with the clients. And the other team members? Nonexistent (There used to be one more but Antonio quit the job barely a week since Alfred started his internship). Alfred groaned and let his head drop on the table. Their team was severely understaffed.

When the meeting adjourned, Arthur looked like he would wring someone by the neck and choke them to death. Alfred sat a little straighter, not wanting to be the unlucky person to have hell unleashed on by Arthur. Francis and Kiku exited the meeting room next. They shared a worried glance at the fuming Briton before they split up. Kiku went to Alfred while Francis bravely approached Arthur who was practically glaring at the road traffic seven floors below. Feliciano exited last, looking ready to cry any moment. No doubt Arthur had lashed out on the poor man during the meeting. Alfred almost felt sorry for him. Feliciano was a good man but a terrible account executive. He was an airhead who often forgets the previous agreements and push for new ones (usually very different from the preceding agreement). Arthur would often raise his voice when he talked to him on the phone. The worst was when Arthur had refused to deal with him for a week and passed the phone to Alfred every time.

Alfred kept an eye on him as he exited the suite.

_xxx_

Francis moved from his seat across Alfred's and settled beside him, eyes twinkling and mouth pulled up in a sly smile. He leaned on the table, his elbow supporting his body, and rested his chin on his palm. Alfred tried to act nonchalant and not show any sign of discomfort at the dirty looks Francis sent his way, but failed at the first word the Frenchman spoke, "_Mon grand_[4]," Alfred stiffened for a second and Francis grinned.

"Uh, can I help you, Francis?"

"_Oui_. You see my friend, I couldn't help but notice that your eyes would not leave Feliciano earlier today." Alfred saw Arthur stiffen at the question. He assumed it was because his boss wasn't in a good terms with the newspaper's AE after that meeting. Arthur had a tendency to hold grudges and would often stare down at the people he's not in amicable terms with. Francis wasn't an exception, but more often the not, the Frenchman wasn't deterred by the hard glare and the impressive eyebrows. Alfred guessed Francis reveled in the fact that he could tease Arthur until he was red in the face and still manage to go to the office instead of resigning like Antonio and several other former employees had done.

Alfred faked a smile and answered with ease, "Yeah? I was worried about the guy. Arthur here looked like he was about to chop the poor man's head." Arthur bristled and begrudgingly shoved a file folder in the cabinet. Alfred cracked another smile, fond and amused at Arthur's reactions. Francis laughed but was not deterred. He was a man on a mission.

"So you are concerned for his well-being, yes?"

"Uh, yeah? He's a good guy. I like him."

The smile on Francis face widened. Alfred had the feeling that the conversation was turning into the kind of conversation that was very Francis.

"Ah, so you are very _fond_ of _mon vieux_[5], Feliciano."

It took a few moments for Alfred to realize his mistake. He had willingly walked into the Frenchman's trap. He backpedaled and tried to get out of the situation. His voice came out higher and more strained than he thought.

"When I said like, I didn't mean it in a romantic sense!"

Francis laughed again, as if he expected Alfred to react the way he did. "I neither said nor implied any of the sort! Why so defensive _mon pote_[6]?"

Alfred huffed. It seemed that he can't win against Francis. He normally wouldn't mind but at the moment he was mortified. _Arthur_ was there. And he was listening! Alfred could care less that his internal panic meant that he admitted he liked Arthur more than a co-worker, because he doesn't want Arthur to misunderstand anything. He didn't like Feliciano the way he liked Arthur. Even if Arthur doesn't know about Alfred's romantic feelings for him. Aflred glared at Francis for instigating the inner turmoil that forced him to embrace what he had denied to himself for nearly a month.

_xxx_

Alfred was almost thankful for the thud that distracted him and Francis, but the rage in Arthur's eyes made Alfred's gut twist in a negative way, "If you have the time to talk about that incompetent fool, I suggest you should work harder and finish sorting these faster." Alfred swallowed the lump in his throat and went back to work. Francis neither said nor did anything. He stared challengingly at Arthur, blue eyes glinting slyly.

"_Qu'est-ce qui ne va pas?_[7]"

"Belt up. I have other things to worry about than listen to your frog language."

"_Oui, oui_, I will pay you no mind and you will do the same to me. I was harmlessly conversing with _mon pote_ about his, ah, opinion on Feliciano when you rudely interrupted. So if you will _excusez-moi_, I shall return to my conversation partner and we shall be free from each other again!"

Alfred gestured Francis to halt from speaking when the Frenchman turned to him. "Francis-"

Francis wouldn't have any of it and steered into another conversation with a wave of his hand, "_Non_, I understand if you want to deny the signs of _l'amour_. So let us assume your claim and move on to another topic."

Alfred sighed in defeat. "As long as it won't be anything like earlier."

"Wonderful!" When Francis beamed and clapped his hands together Alfred knew he'd made another mistake. The teasing look Francis gave him gave everything away. He mentally prepared himself for anything. He knew he should be able to calmly react lest the teasing would go on. He would-

"So let us say someone paid you to sleep with Feliciano for a million dollars, would you do it?"

The folder in Arthur's hands slipped and Alfred turned red.

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><p><strong>an:** Thank you to the many reviews/alerts/favorites! I didn't expect it to be this well-received by fellow fans! But I would like to apologize if this update was a disappointment. I really struggled with the last part. I wanted to stretch it out a bit more but it kept on looking weird to me so I left it with a semi-cliff hanger. I would promise quicker updates but since I have no computer of my own, I know from experience that updates will not be weekly.

I'm neither British nor French. I merely researched about the following online. Feel free to correct me if there are any mistakes. Thank you!

**translations:**

[1] According to wikipedia (and personal experience) collats / collaterals in the marketing industry refers to the collection of media used to support the sales of a product or service.

[2] naff - British slang for tacky, ineffectual and generally crap. This could be a part of the reason why the French clothing firm Naf Naf recently pulled out of the U.K. It may derive from the 1960s gay slang language "Polari" in which it was used as an acronym for "Not Available For Fucking." (credits to septicscompanion)

[3] A gormless person is someone who has absolutely no clue. You would say clueless. It is also shortened so you could say someone is a total gorm or completely gormy. (credits to effingpot)

[4] mon grand - French non-romantic term of endearment for males

[5] mon vieux - French non-romantic term of endearment for males

[6] mon pote -French non-romantic term of endearment for males

[7] Qu'est-ce qui ne va pas? -What's wrong?

I deviated from the usual "mon cher / mon chere" because according to my research, the term is a term of endearment that is used for a person with whom one has romantic feelings for.


End file.
